Police Officer Figurines

“I remember one of my first jobs I delivered a baby.

“There was not a lot of crimes in those days, street robbery was unknown back then. There were a few burglaries and not much else other than a few fights on Friday and Saturday nights when the pubs closed.

“We were very disciplined and our uniforms were spotless. I think that was because we were all ex-servicemen.

“We would have our own beat and I enjoyed it. Every day was different and you never knew what you were going to do from one minute to the next.”

* THEY say the ‘Mountie always gets his man’ and it got John in 1956 when he quit the UK for life in Canada and a job with the Canadian Mounted Police.

He travelled to Toronto with his first wife onboard the old Queen Mary after friends had wowed them with tales about how great life was.

“Doug Ellis sold me the ticket from his little travel agency in Corporation Street,” he said.

“It was a beautiful place to work. I used to think how I couldn’t believe I was getting paid for this.

“It was more or less the same as Birmingham. It was very quiet. But we were armed with a Webley & Scott .38 calibre pistol.

“We would go out on patrol on our horses. I loved my horse Jay, she was lovely, very affectionate and she looked forward to seeing me every morning. See loved candy, as the Canadians called it.”

When his wife became homesick, he transferred back to Birmingham.

* THE bobby was attached to the mounted branch after returning but a senior officer at Bradford Street police station wanted to give his young charge different roles. Among them was one in the control room.

Sitting around a desk with a map of Birmingham on it and small figurines representing police cars, the small team of officers was answer the emergency calls and move their staff around.

“When a 999 call came in, a red light would flash,” he said.